For those unfamiliar, Wingfield's is more of a trailer dropped onto cinder blocks rather than a fully functioning restaurant. It doesn't look like much -- bars on the windows, a window air conditioner humming on hot days, in a southern Dallas neighborhood that's seen better days -- but it's all about the food coming out.
When you walk inside, there's enough room for maybe seven adults with nowhere to sit, so don't even think about dining in, because you can't. The only thing you can do (and the only thing you need to do) is figure out what you're eating and wait on it.
I felt odd ordering a sausage and egg sandwich from this monolith to burgers. The woman working the counter wrote down my order and gave me my ticket and a time (10 minutes). I was the only person in the little trailer, but I took the ticket and gave her cash (the only acceptable form of payment).
Soon after I could hear my sausage working on the grill; I took a peek behind the counter and saw two sausage patties sandwiched between a grill press and the flat top, both black from years of seasoning with pork and beef fat. The food may be simple, but there are flavors from that patina that cannot be recreated anywhere else.
I got my order in a white paper bag and walked right into the parking lot to eat out of the trunk of my car, pretty much the only acceptable place to eat Wingfield's. Two pieces of sausage and two scrambled eggs stuffed between two pieces of toasted white bread, all steaming in the morning chill as I ate. It was savory, fatty and filling, all things you want in a breakfast when you're running on empty, and all in the convenient form of a sandwich. The sandwich wasn't pretty, and by no means perfect from a culinary standpoint, but it worked. With my mouth and hands greasy from the carnage, I balled up the garbage, threw it in the back of my car and took off.
Wingfield's is successful with breakfast (and burgers) because they keep it simple, everything from the operation to the food itself. No special sauce and no secret ingredients. They offer a few sandwiches and they get them right, as they have for a very long time. Breakfast is only available from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday; it's a small window, but it's worth hitting.
